Multiple TUNA trolling questions

[fishindude]

Hi everyone.
I no expert TUNA slayer and I know this is the place to ask technical questions. I have been getting fairly good numbers of fish but I think I may be missing some fundamentals so I am going to ask a couple questions and appreciate your responses.

1. How long do you continue to troll after you get the first fish hook up?
We have been counting to 10 slowly

2 What do you use for leader line on your clones and fishtraps
we have been using 130 pound mono

3 How fast to troll clones and how fast for fishtraps.

4 How important is fishtrap and clone colors and how to know which
color to choose.
5 How far back are you running your lines.
We run them back 75 to 150 feet
Ok that is more than just a couple questions
Thanks for any advice.

[bait dunker]

i also count to 10 after the first hook up. i use 80# leader for trolling, 250# on handlines. when casting fishtraps i use 30#. as for speed, i think 7 knots is pretty standard, i like to slow to 4 knots for fishtraps, i think it keeps them swimming a little more true, at faster speeds they tend to swim from side to side and can cause tangles if not careful. experiment with speed, ive had changes in speed produce bites many times.
color can be very important, but i think size is even more important. i start out with a variety of colors until one seems to shine then change them all over to that color. if the bite slows substantally, i will change back to a variety until one shines again. green is always a good choice. zuchinni, mexican flag and purple/black are very popular choices. some times its a wfo bite i think they would hit a dirty diaper if you trolled it. i think your right on the money in the distance. your spread should always be in a v or w shape to lessen the chance for tangles. now that some exotics are in the waters the w pattern with the center in the way, way back position should be considered. but dont be afraid to put one heavier lure right in close to the prop wash, from what ive read, thats a favored place of big eye tuna! good luck, sounds like you have it pretty well covered.

[retaliate]

Sounds like you already have the basics down, just need to play around & find what works best in your Boat, & Gear. If you have light gear like I do, 10 sec is a long time...cause the first hooked fish will end up several hundred feet out, & takes a lot of time to get the fish to the boat, for this reason, I usually slow down the last half, before sliding to a stop, Than as soon as you can, throw out a Fishtrap, & or Iron. Obviously the more line out the better chance for Multipules, however you have to stay within a number you can comfortably deal with, & it depends on the day, a couple Sundays back, just Myself, & the Wife ran 3 rod's, & had doubles, & triples often, a week later on Mon, 3 rod's hardly got their attention...so we went to 5, & got better action. Things change, & you need to adapt accordingly.

[Tinman]

You might try trolling a shorter line, say 40 to 50 feet. Sometimes they like it in close.

[fishindude]

Thanks for the replies. I am thinking of switching out the 130 mono leader to flouricarbon. But two weeks ago they seemed to not be bothered by the mono. This past weekend there were tons of fish on the finder but they weren't hooking on. That's when I started questioning our
technic. Perhaps we just didn't run out far enough saturday. Seems like the best bite was beyond the 40 line.

[Threemuch]

1. How long do you continue to troll after you get the first fish hook up?
We have been counting to 10 slowly That's probably good, especially if you have a couple people casting iron or swimbaits on the slide. I rarely see a rod light off after a five count, but it happens. Alot of guys fish with big gear and never really slow down very much, they just begin turning. Depends what you want, max fish count, or most fun.

2 What do you use for leader line on your clones and fishtraps
we have been using 130 pound mono I like to direct tie fishtraps to 30 or 40, I like 80 mono for jigs on rods and reels, and I don't really like to run handlines but 250 for that. I won't hesitate to direct tie jigs during a slow bite or switch to flouro leader.

3 How fast to troll clones and how fast for fishtraps. 5-10 for jigs, 2-5 for traps

4 How important is fishtrap and clone colors and how to know which
color to choose. Sometimes color is very important, sometimes not. I like light colors on bright days (zuchinni), dark colors dark days (purple and black, black and green, loco joe). Mexican flag usually fishes well in any conditions. Some like to run all one color, with the theory that this brings more multiple hookups, I usually fish a variety unless the fish really show a preference. And all white has it's days for sure, and at one time, that was all the old timers had, so that was what they ran.
5 How far back are you running your lines.
We run them back 75 to 150 feet Usually one flatline between the first and second wake, to start and then build a V as I work outside with about 15-20' between each set. So 6 pieces of gear might only be 75' back at the furthest. I start this way, and then lengthen if the fish dictate. To me, the biggest key in multiple hookups is to only make your spread as long as it needs to be to turn without tangling. If you want to lengthen or shorten the spread to the boat, MOVE THE WHOLE THING. Lengthen all the lines, or shorten all the lines, but if your spread is really long, only lines in the same range get bit. I hear guys all the time say "only the long ones were getting bit" or vice versa, so why not run your whole spread there?

[kenai]

Good stuff, as usual Kurt.